It was only a few minutes later when a man in the same official uniform as Lord Guan, but with a tiger insignia embroidered on his chest, walked out of the Silver Prefecture Garrison Office with two subordinate guards.
He was in his thirties, of average build, with an ordinary-looking face. Behind him followed the two escorts from earlier, their heads bowed and bodies slightly bent in submission.
The man stopped in front of the Wei family.
He glanced down at the documents in his hands, then looked at the Wei family, and then back at the documents.
Finally, he raised his head, his face dark and stern.
“I am Liu Guangzong, Assistant Commander of the Silver Prefecture Garrison. From now on, all of you will be under my jurisdiction.”
“Someone will take you to your quarters shortly. The men of the family are to report to the Thousand-Household Office west of the city the day after tomorrow. You will be assigned to military farming and labor.”
After speaking, he handed the receipt document to the two escorts.
The two men accepted it with both hands, bowing repeatedly and thanking him.
They then stepped forward and removed the wooden cangues and shackles from the Wei family.
By then, Lord Liu had already left, leaving only the two armored guards behind.
Once the escorts had finished their duties, they bowed and took their leave.
From that moment on, the Wei family was no longer under their control.
All male members of the Wei family aged seven and above were registered as military households and required to serve. They had to report for duty every day and perform hard labor.
The women became military household dependents. They had no independent household registration and could only live within the garrison area. They could clear wasteland, farm, do odd jobs, or engage in small businesses, but they were not allowed to leave the area under the garrison’s jurisdiction.
In other words, the men had to perform hard labor in exchange for rations, while the women did not have to report for duty or perform assigned labor, but they received no rations and had to find ways to support themselves.
The two guards led the entire Wei family toward the western part of the city.
After walking for half an hour, they finally stopped in front of a mud-and-thatch house.
By then, the sky was completely dark. The only light came from the faint candlelight inside the two paper lanterns carried by the guards, barely illuminating the surroundings.
One guard pushed open the dilapidated courtyard gate. It creaked loudly.
Inside was a layout resembling a traditional three-sided courtyard.
There were two rooms in the main house and two side rooms on either side. The courtyard was enclosed by mud walls about the height of a person.
“This will be your residence from now on. It’s already late, so clean it up and settle yourselves in.”
“Don’t forget. Tomorrow, report to the Hundred-Household Office about five hundred meters east of here. The day after tomorrow, they will take you to the Thousand-Household Office.”
After giving his instructions coldly, the guard prepared to leave.
Wei Chong hurried forward.
“Officer, is there anywhere nearby where we can buy grain? We haven’t eaten all day, and the children are starving.”
“It’s too late. Everything will be closed by now. Wait until tomorrow.”
The guard said this expressionlessly before leaving.
The Wei family was left staring at one another, completely at a loss.
The moment the guards left, the courtyard plunged into darkness.
After a moment of silence, Wei Ning helplessly shook her head.
Everyone in this large family, except Grandma, had grown up surrounded by fine clothes and delicious food. None of them knew how to survive under such harsh conditions.
She looked around and spotted a small pile of firewood beneath the corridor of the left side room.
“Does anyone have a fire starter?”
Wei Chong pulled one from his clothes.
“I have one.”
Wei Ning carried the firewood into the middle of the courtyard and took the fire starter from him.
Two minutes later, a fire was blazing, illuminating the courtyard.
Grandma cleared her throat before slowly speaking.
“It’s too late tonight. Everyone should first clean up the two rooms in the main house. The men will sleep in one room and the women in the other. We’ll make do for tonight and figure things out tomorrow.”
“At least it’s better than sleeping out in the wilderness.”
Everyone agreed and entered the house with torches to clean up.
Wei Ning had already collapsed beside the fire in the courtyard. She was so exhausted that she could barely stand.
After a while, she noticed two middle-aged women peeking curiously through the courtyard gate.
Chinese aunties, perhaps?
Apparently, the instinct to gossip was universal.
Wei Ning forced herself to stand and walked toward the gate, putting on her sweetest, friendliest smile.
“Good evening, Aunties!”
“We’re the new family who was just assigned here. Do you live next door? Then I suppose we’ll be neighbors from now on.”
The two women saw the frail young girl smiling sweetly and speaking so politely.
They immediately answered.
“Yes, we live next door. See? That’s our place.”
One of the women pointed toward the house opposite theirs.
“We heard some noise coming from your place, so we came over to take a look.”
“It’s really this close!” Wei Ning exclaimed happily. “We’re new here and don’t know anyone. We’ll have to trouble you for your help in the future, Auntie.”
“Of course. We’re neighbors, after all.”
Seeing that the two women seemed friendly, Wei Ning covered her stomach with one hand, bent over slightly, and let out a soft groan.
“Ouch!”
Her face twisted into an expression of pain.
“What happened?” one of the women immediately asked with concern.
Wei Ning lowered her head and blinked hard several times. Then she slowly raised her face, her eyes red and watery, looking utterly pitiful.
“I’m fine. It’s just that I’ve been hungry all day, and my stomach hurts. Thank you for asking, Auntie.”
Hearing this, the woman was reminded of her own experience when she had first been exiled here.
She immediately cursed.
“Those escort officers are absolutely awful! They didn’t even give you any food for the whole day?”
Wei Ning cautiously asked,
“Auntie, my name is Wei Ning. Could I buy some food from you? I’m really too hungry to endure it anymore.”
“But can you cook? You don’t have anything.”
The woman looked at her suspiciously.
Wei Ning’s eyes immediately brightened.
There was hope. The woman had grain!
“I’ll buy the grain from you and borrow your stove to cook a meal. I’ll pay for the firewood too. Would that be all right, Auntie?”
The woman hesitated.
Looking at Wei Ning’s pitiful appearance, her heart softened.
“All right. How much do you need? I only have millet and soybeans.”
“Auntie, you calculate it for us. There are twelve people in our family.”
“Then you’ll need about five sheng. It’s four copper coins per sheng, so that’s twenty coins. I’ll charge another five coins for the firewood.”
“That’s fine! That’s fine! Thank you, Auntie! Thank you!”
Wei Ning hurriedly thanked her.
“I’ll go inside and tell Grandma and get the money. Auntie, wait here. Please wait for me!”
“All right, little girl. Don’t rush. I’ll wait for you.”
The woman hurriedly reassured her.
Wei Ning quickly ran back into the main room and told Grandma.
The entire family was delighted.
They immediately gathered the money and sent Mother Yang and Second Aunt Lin to the neighbor’s house to cook.
Half an hour later, everyone finally had their first meal of the day.
Well, it was actually porridge.
Plain millet porridge, with absolutely nothing else in it.
Yet to the exhausted Wei family, it tasted like the most delicious food in the world.
Once the warm porridge reached their stomachs, everyone finally felt alive again. Even their chilled bodies warmed up somewhat.
After returning the bowls to their neighbor, everyone climbed into bed—or simply lay down on the floor.
They were all exhausted and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
And so, their miserable day finally came to an end.